“As a child I was like any other; at least I felt that I was. I only realized that I was different when I spoke to others and they appeared hesitant to converse. Initially, I was puzzled. One day, I asked my mother about why people were hesitant. Instead of answering, she took me to a doctor.

The doctor recorded my voice and played it back for me. When I heard the recording, I was shocked. My voice sounded clumsy. I couldn’t recognize my own voice. This was certainly not how I sounded to myself. At the age of 11, I was diagnosed as having been born without tonsils. My life has not been the same after the diagnosis.

Most of the time, people weren’t very patient with me. Maybe they didn’t know how to deal with such a voice. There were suggestions that I should probably train for some technical work, maybe a typist . I heard them all, but paid attention to my inner voice. I knew that I had to perform well when I was asked to interact with students during my training as a teacher. It was definitely challenging. I had been mocked as a student and I knew there was no way young students would understand my situation. I am working to improve my voice by talking to myself, paying attention to my voice and learning phonetics.

I work hard so I can converse well once my training to be a teacher resumes. I want my voice to become my identity. What I have learnt over these years is that it is just a matter of time before we realize our inner strength. I want to be that teacher who I didn’t get as a child. I don't want any other student to feel the way I did while growing up. It won’t be easy, but I am up for it. ”